Expanding Horizons!International Orientation 2007 On May 15, two young women arrived to the IFOR/WPP office in Alkmaar. Sandy Fong from the Fiji Islands and Meena Sharma from Nepal had earlier this year been selected as the 2007 WPP interns of the WPP International Orientation program. Each year, WPP selects two young women activists within the field of peace, nonviolence and gender rights for an intense six week-long internship at the IFOR/WPP international secretariat in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. The first four weeks of the internship consisted of visiting relevant events and organizations, such as the Dutch IFOR branch Kerk en Vrede; Movies that Matters; Wo=Men - the Dutch Platform for Gender and Development; the International Criminal Court, Mamacash - the women’s fund agency; the Dutch Social Forum; the Peace Palace and many more.
Part of the internship is based on deepening skills of networking and communication. Meena and Sandy informed visited groups about the political situation in their country, the objectives of their organizations and the current condition of women and the women’s movement in Nepal and the Fiji Islands. In the office, the interns assisted the staff with various administrative tasks. In addition, they produced the newsletter The Time Is Now, which can be ordered from the office. If you like to download it from the WPP website, click here >
|
During one weekend Meena and Sandy attended a seminar organized by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders – UNOY on Building Peace Skills. More training was offered at the two-week long WPP Training of Trainers, which gathers international women peace activists. The goals of the ToT are to deepen women’s understanding of active nonviolence, and to equip them with skills to conduct gender-sensitive, nonviolence trainings. To read more about the objectives of the International Orientation, responsibilities of interns and how to apply for the 2008 internships, click here > For more information, contact WPP Gender Officer Cristina Reyna.
|
   |
 |
